Caisse comes up trumps with another stage

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It was became a matter of 'double or nothing' for Caisse d'Epargne in this year's Vuelta a Chihuahua when Dani Moreno took the team's second consecutive stage win in Parral after another tough day that featured a quality breakaway.

Today it was Michael Rasmussen who provided the fireworks; with a point to prove and fire in his belly, the Dane spent much of the day attacking. The Tecos Trek rider launched three forays off the front, the final one gaining him two minutes and moving him to sixth on the general classification.

The previous day Gregorio Ladino had forgotten about Rasmussen when he made it into the winning break that gained more than seven minutes on the peloton. It effectively ended the former Rabobank rider's chances of overall victory after he had won the prologue.

"I started [the stage] really angry," said Rasmussen. "Yesterday, the team made a mistake in its tactics, as the strongest rider of the team was me, and today I have again demonstrated this; in the end I suffered from the effort and Dani Moreno won easily."

Rasmussen was joined late in the stage by Moreno, who was aware of Rasmussen's efforts and realised he was in with a solid chance of taking the win. "Rasmussen didn't work in the final kilometres, but I didn't stress because I knew that he was very tired and also knew that I was faster than him, so I was confident in maintaining the pace on the hills and squeezing him on the flat," said Moreno.

"There's always some doubt when you have someone on your wheel, but I won easily. I came to win the Vuelta a Chihuahua, but I am also happy with winning a stage because it's my first victory of the year, although I still think I'm one of the strongest in this race."

Rock Racing's Oscar Sevilla remains the overall leader, the Spaniard again praising his teammates for their efforts in controlling the day's proceedings. "The lead was never threatened thanks to the great team work done for me. Rasmussen is a great racer, he attacked but we controlled it," said Sevilla.

I was more worried about possible attacks from Ladino or Rui Costa, who are closer in the standings - we monitored them well," he added.

"It [the stage] was hard but we know that we controlled it very well; Paco Mancebo and I are perfectly attuned and to have someone like him makes me much more confident. He did a great job for me," said Sevilla.

Rock Racing's leader was quick to add, "You could say that this was the key stage for the resolution of the race but nothing is decided yet. We have taken an important step [to taking the win]."

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